In our experience, something that most often helps no matter how bad our mood is taking a nap. Sleep fixes a lot of things. And the world seems brighter after a quality snooze. If you notice that your child is extra cranky and unable to regulate their emotions anymore, they might need some rest.
Something else to consider is how your child spends their time. If they’re constantly glued to screens—phones, tablets, the computer, the TV—then you’ve got a problem. They’re probably extremely overstimulated. Your role as a parent is to step in and draw some healthy boundaries when it comes to tech use. Cartoons, video games, and music are all awesome. But too much of a good thing is going to have adverse effects.
Broadly speaking, children under the age of 2 should not be sitting in front of screens at all. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics notes that exceptions can be made for video chatting with relatives.
Any media that toddlers consume ought to be supervised by adults. Meanwhile, kids between the ages of 2 and 5 should only consume up to an hour of screen time per day. This should also be supervised.
When your kids are between 5 and 8 years old and no longer preschoolers, some experts suggest that the parents or guardians determine how much or little screen time they get. There is no clearly set recommendation because the circumstances will differ from family to family. So a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t work. What’s vital is that parents talk to their kids about the healthy use of technology as they grow older. There’s a whole world to explore, fun skills to develop, and people to meet outside of screens.
Which of these temper tantrum tweets (or, well, X’s now…) cracked you up the most, dear Pandas? What’s the strangest reason for a meltdown you’ve seen or heard about? How do you personally deal when faced with a massive tantrum? Be sure to share your thoughts with all the other readers in the comments!
For some more bizarre but funny tantrum stories, consider looking through Bored Panda’s earlier lists.
